Shark Explorers

Kelp forest and pelagic diving

2010-11-02T08:16:00.006+02:00

Last week we did a kelp forest and a pelagic dive (28 & 29 October). Here is a short video that I shot and edited that shows just how underrated Diving in Cape town is. The water was 17degrees Celsius with loads of sharks. Special thanks to Leila and Jeroen for joining us on this dive expedition! Hope you enjoy it!

Shark Explorers 2010/10/28&29 from Shark Xplorers on Vimeo.

Whale carcass vs White sharks

2010-11-02T07:54:00.003+02:00

On 9 September 2010 a whale carcass washed into the False bay. Chris Fallows and the SA Navy towed the carcass to Seal Island where for 9 days we witnessed over 30 White sharks feast on it.

For a detailed report read my wife's blog at :

http://saveourseas.com/projects/whitesharks_za/recycling_life_dead_whale_a_giant_magnet_for_sharks

Sardine Run Fever!

2010-08-05T12:56:00.007+02:00

Probably the most spectacular natural event that I have ever witnessed!! They don't call this the "Wild Coast" for nothing!! Brocq and myself spent 3 weeks filming dolphins, sharks, whales and birds as they masterfully herded and dissected massive sardine bait ball's.

The Sardine run takes place in June/July each year. Cold water currents push up against the coast and with it comes millions of sardines. And awaiting them a impressive array of predators : Bottle nose dolphins, common dolphins, gannets, brydes whales, dusky sharks, black tip sharks, bull sharks, bronze whaler sharks, sail fish and more.

Sometimes it feels like you are in a war zone! Dolphins communicating, birds falling from the sky sounding like cannon fire as they hit the water, whales bursting through the middle with there mouths wide open, sharks snapping at the sardines! Chaos in the best possible sense!

We are going back in 2011 and am inviting nature enthusiasts to join in. If you think you can handle such a mind blowing experience please contact me for further details.

Shark Explorers - film and productions

2010-06-10T11:22:00.004+02:00

This year got off to a busy start and at the moment we are busy on 6 productions. One production focusing on the Kelp forests and it's bio diversity, one on the tigers, raggies and black tips in Aliwal shaol, 2 productions on the Sardine run, and 2 productions on white sharks. Stay posted for more info as it's made available.

Here are a few productions that have made it big "on screen", winning numerous awards!

2005: Beyond Fear – National Geographic

2007: Sharkman – Discovery Channel

2008: Great White Shark, A Living Legend – BBC Natural World

2009: 60 Minutes with Anderson Cooper – CNN, CBS

Watch CBS News Videos Online

2010: Shark Nights – Discovery Channel and French TV

Shark Explorers launches "Shark Explorer

2010-06-10T11:12:00.003+02:00

We are proud to announce the launch of our new dive boat, "Shark Explorer"! Originally used for deep sea tuna fishing, we had to redesign the deck layout to cater for divers, photographers and film makers. This vessel is designed with comfort and practicality in mind. We cater for 6 clients only and have all the necessary space and equipment for any job at hand. This is NOT your average dive boat!

Pelagic season a success!

2010-06-10T10:56:00.009+02:00

The Pelagic season has been awesome! We spent 12 days out in the "deep" with tons of blue sharks, mako sharks, yellow fin tuna, long fin tuna and many more animals that call this deep blue water there home.

Our best trip of the season was on the 2nd of June 2010. The first two sharks that arrived to our boat was Mako's, after that the blue's arrived and then some more Mako's! By the time I got out of the water we had 15 blue sharks and 4 Mako sharks around us at the same time. I actually needed to dive through the blue sharks just to get a picture of a Mako.....

We also had some incredible dives with the giant Tuna's. Some of these fish weight in at over 100kg and are lighting fast in the water.

Visibility ranges from 10m-50m and the water can get incredibly blue out there. Here are a few pictures taken in the cleanest water of the season!

ORCA'S in False Bay

2010-06-10T10:44:00.006+02:00

On 17th April 2010 we received word that a pod of Orca's were chasing down a huge pod of dolphins, so we rushed to the boat and went looking for them. What happened next was a truly humbling experience that I've never witnessed before.

The Orca's tracked down the pod of dolphins and predated on one. With a full breach out of the water and knocking the dolphin miles into the air, before making turns to feed on the carcass.

After consuming everything but the head and internal organs, the Orca's made a run for it again to catch the dolphins. We followed them for about two hours before we were forced to turn around as we just had enough fuel to make it back to base.

This is the fourth time the Orca's came into the bay in the last year and we hope to see this soon again!

Hawaii and Florida

2010-06-09T12:11:00.015+02:00

In February this year we headed to Hawaii for the first white shark symposium. My wife presented her work on the white sharks of False Bay and the shark spotting program. What a successful conference with over 100 people attending. I off course spent most of my time diving! and surfing!

Here are some friends I ran into while exploring the underwater beauty of Hawaii and Florida...

Alison's presentation at Mote Marine lab in Florida! And getting to hang out with the mother of all shark research, Dr. Eugenie Clark

Picture says a thousand words...

2010-06-09T11:44:00.025+02:00

What a busy year it's been so far! Time to get this blog running and catch up to the present. So what has Shark Explorers been up to lately? I am adding some pictures from the past 6 months with a caption to explain. I am clearly not somebody who likes writing, so I hope the pictures makes up for it....

Firstly I will update our inshore dives. These dives are the kelp forest diving, seven gill shark dives, cat sharks, spotted gully's, seals ect.

Gerhard Wagner from Shark Projects joins us for a dive with the 7Gill's amongst the kelp forests (April 2010).

Some random pictures of our kelp forest diving taken over the past 6 months...

Diving amongst the kelp forest is good all year round, but visibility has been exceptional over the last three weeks and still is.

Pelagic dive....a must for all ocean addicts

2009-12-13T19:11:00.006+02:00

The Pelagic trips we offer are certainly one of the most exciting experiences for ocean lovers. 30 Miles out at sea, the ocean doesn't get much "wilder" than this. It's like opening a lucky packet every time we head out and past Cape point. Whales, dolphins, seals, sharks, fish, birds, and "BLUE WATER"!

We managed to get out to the "blue's" five times in the last month. Two of the days will never be forgotten. The pictures don't do it justice!

Unfortunately blue sharks and mako sharks are of the most heavily fished shark species in our oceans, and what makes this worst is the fact that we just don't have enough information about these sharks to guarantee their survival in the future.

Hopefully more people will get to experience this awesome diving so that we can raise more awareness for these beautiful animals....and hopefully eliminate the thought of "out of sight, out of mind".

Seven gill sharks in numbers

2009-10-29T16:23:00.006+02:00

We have been spending many days this year diving with the seven gill’s. Over the last 4 weeks we have been seeing an increase in the number of sharks in the area.

At the moment we are recording between 20 and 30 different sharks on a single dive! On our last dive we had one of the largest sevengill’s we have ever dived with, measuring in at about 3meters and weighing in at around 500pounds...she looked pregnant!

We also had a record 7 different shark species on a single dive! This is one of my favourite dives at the moment – the kelp forests and beautiful reef structures makes this a very rewarding experience.

The seals are always a hit and we often find ourselves amongst these playful animals when we dive this location.

Into the blue

2009-10-29T16:07:00.007+02:00

The tuna season is in full swing and with it comes blue sharks and mako sharks. We did a trip out there on the 24th October to see what we could find.

The weather was good, the water was warm and the wildlife certainly didn’t disappoint us!

We had giant yellow fin tuna, sharks, dolphins and at least 8 different pelagic bird species (of which 3 were albatross).

The season lasts till the end December and sometimes even into January. The weather has to be good before we head out 30miles from land, but what an experience!

Borderhop – Mozambique 2009

2009-10-29T16:02:00.006+02:00

Mozambique is a very special place with some incredible diving opportunities. We took on the road early October for a short 8-day-dive-as-much-as-u-can-expedition. We travelled 4500km in 8 days and got to dive 4 days on two different locations.

The first location was Sodwana bay. We joined Digger from blue juice for some sub tropical diving. On our first dive we ran into a Manta and a Ragged tooth shark! As we are sharky people, this was just what we were hoping for.

Our plan was to dive Sodwana and then go up to Ponta da ouro to dive the pinnacles and possibly run into some bull sharks, hammerheads and whale sharks.

Unfortunately the weather didn’t play in our favour and we had green, cold water with loads of jellyfish....but no sharks! The currents along the east coast can be very unforgiving. We still had a great time diving and surfing in Mozambique. We are already planning our next trip!

A busy year behind the camera

2009-10-29T15:49:00.008+02:00

From Bassas to Cape town, from dusk till dawn, from white sharks to bull sharks, from 60minutes to Animal planet, from Anderson Cooper to Jeff Corwin....it doesn’t get much better than this!

2009 has been a challenging year for me behind the camera, but a very rewarding one indeed. I was lucky enough to be contracted as underwater cameraman on four high-end film productions about sharks.

White sharks were on the top of the shotlists and we (Mike Rutzen and myself) spent over 30hrs in the water with them this season. I can’t say much right now....but stay tuned for updates on the screening of these groundbreaking films. NOT TO BE MISSED!

Blue water adventures...

2009-07-19T11:09:00.007+02:00

Thirty miles out at sea with no land in sight, hundreds of meters deep with endless visibility, blue sharks and mako sharks amongst giant schools of yellow and long fin tuna....a life changing experience indeed!

Diving amongst pelagic sharks is an adventure not many divers get to experience. We head out at first light and after a long journey by boat we reach our destination marked by loads of bird activity and commercial fishing boats taking advantage of the seasonal abundance of fish.

Blue sharks are very curious animals and they often swim right up to the divers for a closer look. They are the most beautiful shades of blue you can possibly imagine and pictures don’t do them justice.

This year the mako sharks were a little scarce with very few gracing us with their presence. But everyday out there is different and you just never know what to expect – its adventurous diver’s dream come true! The giant yellow fin tuna can weigh in at over 200 pounds and are extremely fast swimmers. We often get to jump in amongst tunas and sharks which make this dive just so much more rewarding.

White shark season in full swing!!

2009-07-14T17:07:00.007+02:00

Our white shark season at the island got off to a slow start this year with low shark numbers and very little predatory behaviour in April/May. This all changed as we entered June and we had some spectacular days out with the great white sharks! The predations picked up and we witnessed some incredible interactions between sharks and seals.

The number off sharks we got to the boat also increased and we even got visits from some “old friends” we haven’t seen in a while. One shark in particular goes by the name of “Nutcase”. He has been on our records since 2004 and has grown tremendously over the last five years. Alison almost jumped into the water to welcome him as his unique dorsal fin gracefully cut the water surface. A very exciting day at sea!!

These cameras gets clamped onto the sharks dorsal fin, records for a period of time, pops off to the surface and we find it using radio signals – Sounds easy??? Think again, putting these cameras onto moving sharks is a complicated process which we are constantly getting better at. Long days at sea, but catching a glimpse into the life of a white shark is well worth it!

Just another perfect day in False bay!!

2009-07-05T16:45:00.008+02:00

These are the days that makes us go back for more and more!!! perfect weather, perfect water, perfect company!! Volker, Mark and myself headed out to spend some time with our friends, "the 7gill cow sharks". As we where travelling to our spot we couldn't help but notice the crystal clean water under the speeding boat. Mother nature had given us the perfect day!

With 60ft visibility and loads of sharks we took the plunge to experience one of my best dives of the year. And if that wasn’t enough we were entertained by a young seal that was darting amongst 30 seven gill cow sharks. Seven gills prey on seals, this was the forth time we dived among the sharks while a “playfull” seal was showing off it’s agility. The sharks didn’t seem too bothered with the furry little friend, that was until one of the big sharks (+-3m) turned and snapped at the seal…and then it was gone.

With such perfect conditions we couldn’t help but drop into the water for a second dive with the sharks. They were everywhere!! After our second dive we decided we want more, so we took a slow cruise to the nearby seal colony and finished off our air amongst the “clowns of the ocean”, the cape fur seals. What a day!! One we will never forget!!

Black tip mania!!

2009-07-03T18:44:00.010+02:00

Southern Africa is host to a diversity of shark species including white sharks, bull sharks, tiger sharks, 7 gill sharks, ragged tooth sharks, black tip sharks, blue sharks, mako sharks, cat sharks, whale sharks, basking sharks, smooth hound sharks, spotted gully sharks, dusky sharks...just to name a few!! Where else in the world can you find such a large amount of shark species all packed into one country? NOWHERE...

We are based in the Western Cape which is a cold temperate environment. Trips up our east coast are always a treat because of the vast differences between the locations. The ecosystems, water temperature and general weather conditions all change. We have awesome dives on these trips, but one particular dive sin June stands out and was unbelievable! We had 20 - 30meters visibility and loads of sharks. The most common sharks that were present were black tip sharks. We had up to 40 of these agile predators around us at times.

These sharks can reach about 2.5m and are very energetic. We had bull sharks coming in to investigate, but they weren’t hanging around. They seem to be cautious around the numerous black tips. The tiger sharks were slow at times and the most we had around us at one time was 3. They too seemed a little distracted by the large number of feisty black tips that seem to rule the roost in this location. Diving in these waters is incredibly, especially when you have so many sharks to keep you company.